


Solutions in Stress

by purplelly



Category: Achievement Hunter, Rooster Teeth
Genre: i have never been to a strip club so i'm not sure how good this is ;-;, strip clubs, that's about all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-14
Updated: 2014-12-14
Packaged: 2018-03-01 12:49:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2773565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purplelly/pseuds/purplelly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: Hey, so, i have a request if you're up for it. I've read a few of your stories and I enjoy a lot of them. I got this idea, and don't know how to go about writing it myself. Where Ryan is really stressed and Michael notices and says he knows just the place to take him (or vice-versa if you want). It's a strip club and Ray is a stripper there. You can go where you want with this, only these specifics really. Thanks! :)</p>
<p>Summary: Ryan has had a particularly stressful day, and Michael knows just how to help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Solutions in Stress

Ryan is a pretty laid-back guy. He’s relaxed most of the time; which always leads him to believing he can take on more than he actually can.

So now he has too much work to do because he volunteered to do it - and because he’s an idiot. And now he’s stressed and frustrated; like he could spontaneously combust any moment if one little thing went wrong.

His friend and coworker, Michael, picked up on it quickly.

The younger man was a bit obnoxious and had a temper, and he warmed up to Ryan quick. Mostly because of their nearly opposite attitudes about work; Michael is one who usually ends up yelling at his computer when it freezes, causing a disturbance in the office. Ryan always comes to help him, cool and easy and patient with Michael’s temper. They’ve become friends over that.

But now Ryan has fucked up, taken on too much work, and he feels just like Michael at that moment; like he wants to break a pencil or punch a wall. And Michael ‘Rage Quit’ Jones picks up on it, because he’s familiar with those emotions as well.

It’s the end of the work day when Michael approaches him, leaning in his office doorway while Ryan packs up his things. Ryan glances up at him, a silent warning about his mood, and Michael chuckles slightly.

“Stressful day?” Michael asks.

Ryan rubs his hands over his face. “The worst day of my life.”

Michael laughs again and walks up to Ryan, patting his shoulder. “I know just the place that helps with that kind of thing.”

Ryan raises an eyebrow, but Michael is already walking out the door, waving for him to follow. Ryan sighs again, grabbing his jacket before following Michael out.

“Where are we going?” Ryan asks when he catches up to him.

“A place,” Michael replies simply, smirking. Ryan gives an unamused look. “Alright, alright. But you got to trust me on this, man. You wouldn’t go if I told you now, so just wait until we get there.”

“If you think I wouldn’t go, why are you bringing me along?” Ryan asks.

“Because it helps,” Michael answers. “And you’re stubborn as dicks and will claim it won’t.”

They walk out of the building and head for Michael’s car. The younger man is already holding his keys and gestures for Ryan to get in.

Ryan sighs. “This is kidnapping, you know.”

“You’re overthinking it.”

“What I refuse?”

“Just get in the fucking car, Ryan.”

Ryan rolls his eyes but does as he’s told, getting in the passenger side of Michael’s car. The younger man starts the car, and out of the parking lot they go.

“So where are we going?” Ryan asks after a few minutes.

“A place I go when I get stressed,” Michael replies.

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“It’s good enough until we get there.”

Ryan huffs and turns to look out the window, watching the streetlights go by.

It doesn’t take long for the car to pull into a bumpy parking lot. The building behind the parking lot has muffled music from inside, and posters of men and women hanging on the walls outside. Immediately Ryan knows where they are, and he turns to Michael with a sharp look.

“A strip club? You took me to a strip club?” Ryan asked.

“I told you wouldn’t have agreed!” Michael replied.

“You kidnapped me,” Ryan said. “To bring me to a strip club?”

“It’s not kidnapping, Ryan. And you won’t know it helps until you try it.”

“I’m not going to a strip club, Michael.”

“Just try it,” Michael rolled his eyes. “Or you can stay out in the freezing car while I get a lap dance.”

Ryan contemplated. After a moment, he sighed, and got out of the car. Michael smiled.

“Good choice, Ry.”

“Shut up, Michael.”

They walked into the building, where a man dressed in short-shorts and a tight-fitting t-shirt with a clip-on tie walks up to them. He has tattooed arms and a mustache with messy short hair.

He grins at Michael. “Welcome back, Michael. Brought a friend?”

Michael nods. “He had a stressful day today so I brought him here to relax.”

The tattooed man turns to Ryan. “I’m Geoff. Good to see you here. Hope you have a good time.” He winks.

Ryan turns back to Michael and gestures for him to lead the way. Michael grins at Ryan and walks through the doors, Ryan following.

The music is suddenly much louder than it was outside or in the other room. There were a lot of people inside, men and women. There was a bar on one side of the room, and a line of chairs around a stage. Michael immediately grabbed Ryan’s arm to pull him towards the bar.

“Let’s a get a drink before the show,” Michael said. “It’ll help to relax.”

Ryan didn’t argue – if he needed anything, he needed a drink – and let Michael lead him to the bar.

They ordered a beer each, then Michael grabbed his arm again – the younger man was always very touchy – and dragged him to the chairs near the stage.

“Let’s see how relaxed you are by the end of the show,” Michael said, and as if on cue, the music changed and the curtains on stage opened.

The first person came out on stage and began their dance. Michael leaned back in his chair, occasionally sipping at his beer, and looked right at home. Ryan, however felt awkward.

He doesn’t go to strip clubs often; in fact, he doesn’t really go at all. He just feels like he’s intruding in something private when the people are on stage. So that leads him to awkwardly averting his eyes from the stage while sipping at his beer.

He takes glances at the stage, and as the next person – a man – comes up on stage, he stops and has to double-take.

The guy up on stage wears a tuxedo-print t-shirt and shorts that hug his hips. He wears glasses and has short dark hair, and all Ryan can think is  _whoa_.

Now he’s interested, watching more intently on this man than the others. He leans forward involuntary; Michael notices and stifles a chuckle.

The man moves swiftly, teasingly, as he dances and strips. Ryan finds himself entranced - and extremely turned on. At one point he meets Ryan’s eyes, and pauses for a second. Then he smiles, and continues with the dance.

He feels a tap on his shoulder and he turns to look at Michael, who’s grinning at him in amusement.

“That one’s called X-Ray,” Michael says over the music. “It’s his stage-name. I think his real name is Ray.”

Ryan nods, and turns back to the stage. He misses Michael laughing softly next to him.

By the end of the show, Ryan thinks more about X-Ray – or, Ray – then any of the other strippers.

Michael gripped Ryan’s shoulder and turned to face him.

“How do you feel after that?” Michael asked, grinning.

Ryan shrugged. “I guess I feel a bit better.”

Michael punched his shoulder lightly. “Told you it would help!” He paused. “Not to mention how you were goggling at Ray up there.”

Ryan spluttered for a moment, but Michael put his hand up, stifling his giggles. “It’s alright, it’s kinda what they expect.” He leans in close suddenly. “You know, you could just ask him for a private session.”

Ryan goes red and shakes his head. “Uh, no, no. Not my thing.”

Michael shrugs and drinks the last bit of his beer. “Suit yourself.”

They went back to the bar and ordered a few more drinks. Not enough to get wasted, but enough that neither of them were fit to drive.

The two of them were just chatting back and forth by now; not about anything specific. The topic changed constantly. Ryan was listening to Michael’s rant when the other suddenly went silent. He looked over at him to find Michael already staring at him, smirking with his eyes looking somewhere behind Ryan.

Then there was a gentle hand on Ryan’s shoulder, and he turned to see the stripper, Ray, sitting down on the barstool next to him. He wore a hoodie now, over his tuxedo shirt he wore earlier, and the same shorts.

“I need to go to the bathroom,” Michael said suddenly, turning Ryan’s attention to him. “Be right back.” He practically sang the last sentence, and Ryan sent him a glare that said  _how could you leave me_.

Ryan turned back to Ray, who was smiling somewhat shyly at him. Ryan found that a bit strange, since the guy seemed pretty confident on stage. _  
_

“Uh, hi,” Ryan greeted.  _That doesn’t sound stupid at all_.

“Hi,” Ray nodded back. He held out a hand. “I’m Ray.”

Ryan took his hand. “Ryan.”

“I saw you in the crowd earlier,” Ray said. He moved a little closer. “You’re pretty cute, you know?”

Ryan’s cheeks turned red, and he averted his gaze to the bar. “Heh, thanks. You looked good on stage.”

Ray smiled. “Thanks. Takes a lot of practice.” He pauses. “Do you want to hang out sometime? Out of my work?”

Ryan returned the smile. “Sure, that sounds good.”

Ray grinned before turning away. He grabbed a pen sitting idly on the bar, and then a napkin, scribbling on it. He folded the napkin neatly and handed it to Ryan, who unfolded it to read. There was a number written down, and Ryan folded it back up and put it in his pocket.

Michael came back then, sitting down and looking between them. Ray looked at his watch then, and started to stand up.

“Sorry, I need to go right now. Work and everything,” Ray shrugs. He placed a hand on Ryan’s shoulder and smiled. “Call me sometime.” Then he walked away.

Ryan felt Michael punch his arm, and he turned back to the younger man.

“You got his number?” Michael asked incredulously.

Ryan shrugged, grinning like a child. Michael scoffed, but couldn’t help smiling back.

“See? Wasn’t this a great idea?” Michael asked, and Ryan laughed in response.

They called a cab that night and said their goodbyes, Michael patting him on the back in congratulations( _‘Congrats, you’re gonna bang a stripper!_ ’), and they parted.

When Ryan got home, he took the number out of his pocket; then added Ray’s contact into his phone. 


End file.
